The 57th International Art Exhibition, titled Viva Arte Viva, will open to the public from Saturday May 13th to Sunday November 26th, 2017 (Giardini and Arsenale) and will be curated by Christine Macel and organised by La Biennale di Venezia chaired by Paolo Baratta. The preview will take place on May 10th, 11th and 12th, the awards ceremony and inauguration will be held on Saturday, May 13th 2017.
The Exhibition will also include 86 National Participations in the historic Pavilions at the Giardini, at the Arsenale and in the city centre of Venice. Three countries will be participating for the first time: Antigua and Barbuda, Kiribati, and Nigeria.
The Italian Pavilion at the Tese delle Vergini in the Arsenale, sponsored and promoted by the Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali e del Turismo, Direzione Generale Arte e Architettura Contemporanee e Periferie Urbane, this year will be curated by Cecilia Alemani.
23 Collateral Events, promoted by non-profit national and international institutions, will present their exhibitions and initiatives in Venice during the 57th Exhibition.

The Director of the 55th International Art Exhibition is Christine Macel.
Christine Macel is a French curator. She is the director of the 2017 Venice Biennale and chief curator at the Centre Pompidou.
Macel is a contributor to several magazines such as Artforum, Flash Art, Art Press, Parkett and Cahiers du Musée national d’art moderne.Macel has served as the Chief Curator at the Centre Pompidou since 2000, where she started the museum's contemporary art department. She has curated shows for Sophie Calle, Gabriel Orozco, Nan Goldin, and Philippe Parreno.
At the Venice Biennale, Macel curated the French pavilion in 2013 (Anri Sala), and the Belgian pavilion in 2007 (Eric Duyckaerts).
(Source: Wikipedia)

The Exhibition offers a route that unfolds over the course of nine chapters or families of artists, beginning with two introductory realms in the Central Pavilion in the Giardini, followed by seven more realms to be found in the Arsenale and the Giardino delle Vergini. There are 120 invited artists from 51 countries; 103 of these are participating for the first time.
“La Biennale must present itself as a place whose method—and almost raison d’être—is dedicated to an open dialogue between artists, and between artists and the public.”
This is how Paolo Baratta, President of La Biennale di Venezia, presents Biennale Arte 2017, explaining that “the 57th Exhibition introduces a further development. It is as though what has always been our primary work method—encounter and dialogue—has now become the theme of the Exhibition, because this year’s Biennale is dedicated to celebrating, and almost giving thanks for, the very existence of art and artists, whose worlds expand our perspective and the space of our existence.”
“Christine Macel has called it an Exhibition inspired by humanism. This type of humanism is neither focused on an artistic ideal to follow nor is it characterised by the celebration of mankind as beings who can dominate their surroundings. If anything, this humanism, through art, celebrates mankind’s ability to avoid being dominated by the powers governing world affairs. These powers, if left to their own devices, can greatly affect the human dimension, in a detrimental sense. In this type of humanism, the artistic act is contemporaneously an act of resistance, of liberation and of generosity.”
“There is another aspect of the 57th Exhibition – states Baratta - which alone qualifies it, above and beyond all the themes or narrations: of the 120 artists who have been invited to the Exhibition by our curator, 103 are participating here for the first time. Some are discoveries; many others, at least for this year’s edition, are rediscoveries. And these courageous choices, too, are a concrete expression of our confidence in the world of art.”
“This year, direct encounters with the artists have assumed a strategic role, to the point of becoming one of the pillars of La Biennale, whose program is of unprecedented size and commitment. Our curator’s main Exhibition is surrounded by the 86 pavilions of participating countries, each with its own curator, which will once more bring to life the pluralism of voices which is a hallmark of La Biennale di Venezia.”
Christine Macel has declared:
“Today, in a world full of conflicts and shocks, art bears witness to the most precious part of what makes us human. Art is the ultimate ground for reflection, individual expression, freedom, and for fundamental questions. Art is the last bastion, a garden to cultivate above and beyond trends and personal interests. It stands as an unequivocal alternative to individualism and indifference.”
“The role, the voice and the responsibility of the artist are more crucial than ever before within the framework of contemporary debates. It is in and through these individual initiatives that the world of tomorrow takes shape, which though surely uncertain, is often best intuited by artists than others.”
“Viva Arte Viva is an exclamation, a passionate outcry for art and the state of the artist. Viva Arte Viva is a Biennale designed with artists, by artists and for artists.”

The Nine Trans-Pavillon

Each of the nine chapters or families of artists of the Exhibition “represents a Pavilion in itself, or rather a Trans-Pavilion as it is trans-national by nature but echoesthe Biennale’s historical organisation into pavilions, the number of which has never ceased to grow since the end of the 1990s.”
“From the “Pavilion of Artists and Books” to the “Pavilion of Time and Infinity”, these nine episodes tell a story that is often discursive and at times paradoxical, with detours that mirror the world’s complexities, a multiplicity of approaches and a wide variety of practices. The Exhibition is intended as an experience, an extrovert movement from the self to the other, towards a common space beyond the defined dimensions, and onwards to the idea of a potential neo-humanism.”
“Viva Arte Viva also seeks to convey a positive and prospective energy, which whilst focusing on young artists, rediscovers those passed away too soon or those who are still largely unknown despite the importance of their work.”
“Starting with the Pavilion of Artists and Books, the Exhibition reveals its premise, a dialectic that involves the whole of contemporary society, beyond the artist himself, and addresses the organisation of society and its values.”
“Art and artists are at the heart of the Exhibition, which begins by examining their practices, the way they create art, halfway between idleness and action, otium and negotium.”

Open Table (Tavola Aperta), Artists’ Practices Project, Unpacking My Library: a series of parallel projects and performances will animate the Exhibition following the same curatorial premise, which is to place artists at the art of the Exhibition.
Open Table (Tavola Aperta)
Each Friday and Saturday of every week, during the six months of the Exhibition, artists will host an Open Table(Tavola Aperta) and meet visitors over a casual lunch to hold a lively conversation about their practice. These bi-weekly events will be organised in two dedicated spaces refurbished for this purpose, in front of the Central Pavilion of the Giardini and in the new Sala d’Armi in the Arsenale. The Open Table (Tavola Aperta) events will be live-streamedon La Biennale’s website.
Artists’ Practices Project
In the Central Pavilion at the Giardini and in the Sale d’Armi at the Arsenale a space will also be created for the Artists’ Practices Project, including a series of short videos made by the artists about themselves and their way of working.
“These two parallel projects – commented Macel - are open to all artists of Biennale Arte. All National Pavilions are welcome to host their own Open Table (Tavola Aperta) event on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and to add videos to the database on the artists.”
Unpacking My Library
Finally, the project titled Unpacking My Library, inspired by Walter Benjamin’s essay published in 1931, allows the artists of Viva Arte Viva to compile a list of their favourite books. This is both a way to get to know the artists better and a source of inspiration for the public. The list of books will be published in the Exhibition at the Central Pavilion and in the catalogue. The books listed by all the participating artists will be available to visitors at the Stirling Pavilion in the Giardini.
Special Projects and Performances
Besides the main Exhibition in the Central Pavilion and in the Arsenale, several Special Projects and Performances have been commissioned especially for the Giardini, the Giardino delle Vergini and other Exhibition venues. A dense programme of approximately twenty performances will be held during the opening week. The performances will all be live-streamed on La Biennale’s website. The videos will remain on view in a dedicated multimedia room in the Central Pavilion and in the Arsenale.

This edition will also include selected Collateral Events, proposed by international bodies and institutions, who will present their exhibitions and initiatives in Venice concurrently with the 57th Exhibition.